CH 15

“Who is it?” Xu Zhao asked.

“It’s me, Cui Qingfeng,” Cui Qingfeng’s voice sounded from outside the door.

“Ah, Qingfeng. What’s wrong?”

“Your dad was hospitalized!”

Your dad was hospitalized?

Your dad?

Dad?

Is he talking about Father Xu?

Xu Zhao was slow to react and suddenly jumped from the bed. Opening the wooden door of the thatched hut, he saw Cui Qingfeng standing outside. “My dad was hospitalized?” Xu Zhao confirmed again.

“Mn,” Cui Qingfeng slightly panted as he nodded.

“How do you know?” Xu Zhao asked again.

“I bumped into your mom at the intersection and she told me,” Cui Qingfeng replied.

“When did this happen?”

“Fifteen minutes ago. I also bumped into your two elder brothers and already told them the news. They’re currently heading to the hospital now.”

“Which hospital?” Xu Zhao anxiously asked.

“County Town Hospital Center.”

“Okay, I’ll go take a look now.”

Re-entering the thatched hut, Xu Zhao quickly changed his clothes, hastily washed his face, and carried Xu Fan from the bed and changed him into his new clothes with familiarity. He put on his (XF) small shoes then carried him out of the thatched hut. Locking the wooden door and Xu Fan placing on the bicycle front handlebars, they headed towards the county town with Cui Qingfeng before parting.

Cui Qingfeng returned home to make popsicles.

Xu Zhao brought Xu Fan to the County Town Hospital Center. When they arrived at the hospital entrance, they saw Xu Zuocheng and Xu Youcheng who had rushed out earlier. The two looked very impatient and stopped under the shade of the tree that was outside the hospital. It appeared they hadn’t seen Xu Zhao as they loudly discussed Father Xu’s illness. It was a stroke.

Stroke?

Xu Zhao was surprised. Stoke occurred more often in the elderly and was oftentimes deadly or led to paralysis. If they were lucky, all that would happen was their arms and legs becoming heavy and their speech becoming impaired. However, regardless of what happens, Father Xu would have to be on medicine for the rest of his life. To any ordinary family, this was no small amount of money. However, the Xu family had many members who could work and it was a burden they could carry, but it appeared Xu Zuocheng and Xu Youcheng didn’t think this way.

“I won’t support him!” Xu Zuocheng said.

“Then who will?” Xu Youcheng asked.

“Whoever wants to can. In any case, it has nothing to do with me.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with me either.”

Xu Zuocheng paused, then said, “Youcheng, our dad got a stroke because he was helping Xu Zhao’s maternal uncle cut wheat. According to reason, shouldn’t Xu Zhao’s uncle take responsibility? But Xu Zhao’s mom won’t allow it and kept bringing up the time when he saved us in the sixties. She’s just unwilling to let Xu Zhao’s uncle pay up his provisions, so why should we have to support them? Our two families can barely eat enough as is, and your sister-in-law is currently pregnant. In any case, I won’t support them.”

“I won’t support them either. That woman is Xu Zhao’s mom, not our mom. Our mom died a long time ago!” Xu Youcheng added.

Our mom died a long time ago—

Xu Zhao sucked in a breath of cold air. So that was how it was!

It turns out that Xu Zhao had the same father but different mother as Xu Zuocheng and Xu Youcheng. No wonder. No wonder the two brothers hated Xu Zhao. The pitiful original Xu Zhao actually didn’t know this. Father Xu and Mother Xu probably wanted Xu Zhao to treat Xu Zuocheng and Xu Youcheng like full blood brothers, but Xu Zuocheng and Xu Youcheng never thought that way. They always treated Xu Zhao as an outsider and treated him harshly. They even turned a blind eye to the kindness Mother Xu showed them.

Now that Father Xu had a stroke, these two planned to cleanly cut things off.

After the discussion, Xu Zuocheng and Xu Youcheng still hadn’t seen Xu Zhao, and refused to return to the hospital with determination. They turned their bodies and left.

“Xu Zhao.” Someone called Xu Zhao at this time.

Xu Zhao followed the voice and saw a woman standing at the entrance. He immediately recognized her to be Mother Xu.

Mother Xu was a slim woman. She wasn’t tall or short, but was similar to the majority of the women in the village. Her skin was dark, and the wrinkles on her face couldn’t be concealed. Despite that, one could still tell that Mother Xu was a beauty when she was young. But now, she looked haggard and carried a complexion full of grief.

“Grandma,” Xu Fan sat on the front handlebars of the bicycle and happily called.

Mother Xu forced out a thin smile. “Sanwa.”

“Grandma!”

Xu Zhao helped Xu Fan off the bicycle.

Xu Fan immediately strode his small legs to run towards Mother Xu.

Mother Xu hugged Xu Fan, then held Xu Fan’s small hand. He glanced towards Xu Zhao and asked, “Did your eldest Brother and second brother leave?”

“They left,” Xu Zhao said.

Mother Xu’s complexion dimmed.

“Mom, what’s wrong with Dad?” Xu Zhao asked.

Mother Xu bowed her head and said, “Let’s talk in the hospital room.”

Xu Zhao parked the bicycle at the hospital, using a lock to lock it up, then followed Mother Xu and Xu Fan into the hospital room. If you glanced at Father Xu who was laying on the hospital bed, it looked like he was only sleeping, however, his closed mouth was crooked and his closed eyes were slanted. Mother Xu said that while cutting wheat, he suddenly fell on the ground. When that happened, his mouth was already crooked and eyes already slanted. Moreover, his speech was also unclear. When they arrived at the hospital, the doctor said that he had a stroke.

“What else did the doctor say?” Xu Zhao asked.

Mother Xu paused, then said, “T-they said that once your dad wakes up, there’s a huge possibility that he’ll be paralyzed.”

Xu Zhao was startled. Paralyzed. Paralyzed—No wonder Xu Zuocheng and Xu Youcheng ran far away. It would be hard unless their family was like Cui Qingfeng’s family and they had a youngest uncle to support them. That was why Father Cui was bed-ridden and wasn’t pressured. Besides, being bed-ridden was only temporary, and once Father Cui had a successful surgery, he would be able to live normally again.

However, it was different for Father Xu. If Father Xu was paralyzed, he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. Normal families wouldn’t be able to endure this.

“Xu Zhao.” Mother Xu saw Xu Zhao not speaking and called again, “Xu Zhao.”

Xu Zhao looked at Mother Xu.

Mother Xu sat on the stool beside the hospital bed, her arms around Xu Fan who was still standing. After contemplating, she said, “Are you the same as your eldest Brother and second brother, thinking that we’re only a burden and planning on tossing us aside?”

“No, Mom—”

“Rest assured, I won’t make you support your dad.” Mother Xu cut off Xu Zhao’s words. Her heart had already hardened from the actions of her two step-sons. She was afraid that her own biological son would tell them to make the uncle take responsibility or say the same things as his brothers. She really wouldn’t be able to bear that. Instead, she sadly said, “I have some money saved. It was originally for your schooling, but you’re not attending school anymore. It’s enough to let your dad stay in the hospital for two days. Once he’s discharged, your dad will be a disable man who is paralyzed. I’ll take care of him. If we have money, we’ll buy medicine. If we don’t, he won’t take any. We’ll pass the days like this. It’s just… I won’t be able to help you look after Sanwa anymore. You’ll have to work hard.”

Hearing these words, Xu Zhao’s heart felt weird. He opened his mouth to say, “Mom—”

“Enough, don’t say anymore. You should go back first. I’ll take care of things here. It’s enough with just me looking after your dad.”

“Mom—”

“Go back and take Sanwa with you. I see that he has a heat rash. Don’t let him get hot.” Mother Xu patted Xu Fan’s head and said, “Sanwa, take your Daddy and go home.”

“Grandma, when are you coming home?” Xu Fan raised his small head and asked.

Mother Xu forced a smile and said, “Grandma will come home in two days. Sanwa will go home first.”

“Then I’ll wait for grandma and grandpa at home.”

“Sanwa is very obedient.”

It was only then that Xu Fan raised his small hand to hold Xu Zhao’s big hand. “Daddy, let’s go,” he said.

Xu Zhao’s heart was a mess as he left the hospital with Xu Fan. Upon going under the hot sun, they felt the oppressive heat from all directions.

“It’s hot,” Xu Fan said.

Xu Zhao instantly remembered that Xu Fan currently had a heat rash and pulled Xu Fan to stand under the shade of the tree. They then sat on a rock by the roadside, watching the people and bicycles passing by. He was at a loss. He was an orphan in his last life and didn’t understand family love. However, earlier he learned that Xu Zuocheng and Xu Youcheng considered Father Xu to be a burden and threw him away.

Then what about him?

Was he going to throw Mother Xu and Father Xu away as well?

What should he do?

“Daddy,” Xu Fan called.

Xu Zhao looked at Xu Fan and called, “Xu Fan.”

“What is it, Daddy?”

“Do you like grandma and grandpa?” Xu Zhao asked.

“Yes!” Xu Fan replied.

“Do you want to live with your grandparents forever?”

“Yes!”

“Would you rather eat a lot of meat or be together with your grandparents?”

“Be with grandma and grandpa.”

“Why?”

“Because grandma and grandpa don’t eat meat. Grandma and grandpa give all the meat to me.”

Because grandma and grandpa don’t eat meat—

Grandma and grandpa give all the meat to me—

Even Xu Fan could understand such obvious logic, but Xu Zuocheng and Xu Youcheng couldn’t. Xu Zhao immediately made a decision. This decision would make his life harder, but let his heart feel lighter and warmer. However, he wasn’t able to do anything for now, he had to take care of the matter with Cui Qingfeng first.

He took Xu Fan to Cui Qingfeng’s house and helped Cui Qingfeng finish making the popsicles, then asked, “What happened?”

Cui Qingfeng was confused by the question and asked in return, “Huh?”

“Why were you in South Bay Village last night to be able to bump into my mom?” Xu Zhao asked.

“It was just a coincidence.”

“What I mean is, why were you in South Bay Village?”

“I… I—” Cui Qingfeng’s complexion instantly became unnatural.

“Are you hiding something from me?” Xu Zhao asked.

“I’m not.”

“Tell me the truth.”

Cui Qingfeng really admired Xu Zhao to even be able to see through this tiny clue. Cui Qingfeng didn’t conceal it any longer and said with embarrassment, “The subdistrict office won’t let us sell popsicles at the intersection anymore. They said it leaves a negative, and they’ll fine us if we do it again.”

When he received this news early this morning, the first thing he thought of was to tell Xu Zhao and discuss it with him. That was why he borrowed a bicycle to head to South Bay Village, and just so happened to bump into Mother Xu. After finding out about Mother Xu’s situation, he thought Xu Zhao would be worried, so he decided to take care of this matter himself. Although he didn’t have a plan, he could slowly think about it.

“We were reported?” Xu Zhao asked with a frown.

“Mn. Someone is jealous that we’re making money.”

“This is normal. Don’t worry. Once I settle my dad’s affairs, I’ll take care of the intersection problem. We’ll definitely be able to continue selling popsicles at the intersection,” Xu Zhao comforted Cui Qingfeng, but he was actually uncertain in his heart.

“Alright, you take care of your business first. I can do it myself too.” In reality, Cui Qingfeng was completely uncertain.

“Okay.”

While speaking, the popsicles were completed. Xu Zhao and Cui Qingfeng hastily wrapped them up, then delivered 500 popsicles to the steel factory. Cui Qingfeng borrowed a neighbor’s bicycle to go sell popsicles.

Xu Fan borrowed Cui Qingfeng’s straw hat and placed it on Xu Fan’s head. Then they rode the bicycle back to South Bay Village with the sun basking against their backs. In accordance with the decision he made earlier, he led Xu Fan to enter the Xu family home and the first thing he did was enter the main hall inside the tiled house. His gaze fixed firmly on the small clock placed in the middle of the long narrow table and shouted, “Xu Zuocheng, Xu Youcheng come out!”